ADVERTISEMENT

LSU post on R Garys most recent vist there

wheezer

Hall of Famer
Gold Member
Jun 3, 2001
39,761
22,315
113
So time for some Rashan Gary news..

This one was everything LSU wanted it to be - and then some. I can tell you that Gary really loved his first visit down here in late-July, and he told his mom they needed to go back together as soon as possible. So that’s why they booked the plane tickets less than two weeks later to come down to Baton Rouge from New Jersey on their own dime. And as I passed along in previous tidbits, his mother showed up and was ready to go. She asked question after question, and I’m told that by the time she left campus, she was very happy with everything that they saw. They did the dinner with the coaches and their families in Tiger Stadium (let me add that one source said it was “by far the nicest meal for a visitor … maybe ever”) and got lots of meetings in with Les Miles and the defensive coaches about how they will use him, what their plans are, etc.

But put me down for the biggest impact being made on the academic front. And when I say the red carpet got rolled out, they put them through an academic gauntlet of sorts that I can only recall one or two other recruits ever getting. I mentioned that they sat down with LSU Associate Athletics Director Verge Ausberry (a former Tiger football player) to go over things, and for those that don’t know, Verge relates to these student-athletes very well and families always attract to him. So that meeting was a hit.

It didn’t stop there. They also got to meet with LSU Athletics Director Joe Alleva to talk about LSU and what they bring to the table for student-athletes. That meeting was a good one. But Gary and his mom even got to sit down with LSU President F. King Alexander. He’s been the President of schools across the country, from the West Coast to down South, and he even attended school at Wisconsin. So he’s been all over, and he’s seen enough to be able to sell LSU on being the total package no matter the distance. Like I said, not many recruits get to sit down with the president of the university, but Gary and his mom did.

But I’m on board with this being the biggest win of the weekend.. What does Gary’s mom value outside of football? Academics. Bottom line. And who oversees the academic side of things for the LSU football team? That would be Walt Holliday, the Director of Academic Affairs who is probably one of the most popular guys the team deals with. And where is he from? New Jersey… Played his college ball at Rutgers and grew up just a stone’s throw from where Rashan’s mother is from. That connection paid off this weekend as I’m told Gary’s mom really liked Holliday and loved that they had the New Jersey connection. So if anyone can sell LSU being a great fit for a kid from New Jersey, it’s someone like him.

I’ll say this again. Buckle up. LSU is in the lead group. Top two. No doubts in my mind about that. He can choose from any school in the country, but I think he’s leaning towards making the leap to go down South for college - which is why this summer swing of visits was so important to him and his mother. I’ve got LSU, Auburn and Georgia out front, and I realize he made two trips to Athens and cancelled that five-day swing that included a visit to Auburn, but my gut (and from what I’m hearing…) is that LSU and Auburn are the two schools that Gary leaves the summer highest on. Obviously lots of teams will be in the mix as he narrows his list down and takes official visits, but LSU is right there out front.

Ed Orgeron and the staff blew this one out of the water. I’m very tempted to put in my LSU Crystal Ball pick since there are current picks out there for Michigan, Alabama, Auburn, Clemson and Ohio State. But I will let the dust settle from the trip and try to talk to him or his mother on the phone before I put that stamp of confidence down. But I’m close. Very close..
 
Ugh ... a former Rutgers player and NJ guy is the one sealing the deal. I'm sure Gary's recruiting goes right down to signing day, but wow LSU went all in, as I'm sure every team has for him. The great thing about RU is they can do that type of thing for Gary every single weekend if they wanted. Just think he wants SEC land and unless his mom says "home is where you need to be son" then this ball game is(was) over.
 
I know we're all guilty, but I'm literally suffocating under the weight of the homerism of that article, Jesus. I've let it go long ago, but this kid's recruitment just gives me the red ass something fierce. What a waste of time all those dozens of visits and all that time spent with the coaching staff. I know it had to be done, but damn. Like we never even existed.
 
Ugh ... a former Rutgers player and NJ guy is the one sealing the deal. I'm sure Gary's recruiting goes right down to signing day, but wow LSU went all in, as I'm sure every team has for him. The great thing about RU is they can do that type of thing for Gary every single weekend if they wanted. Just think he wants SEC land and unless his mom says "home is where you need to be son" then this ball game is(was) over.
Don't think Holliday played football at RU. He is a jersey guy but graduated from Upsala. Was an academic advisor at RU ( for hoops, I think Iread). So the LSU enthusiast was a bit off there.
 
So LSU has one dude from NJ that Gary talked to and this redneck writer acts like they can see the jersey shore from their campus. Newsflash recruits, they don't know or like NJ in any of these places. You are "repping" NJ to people who would laugh at your home to your face if you couldn't play football for them.


Whatever. Thank god I don't usually click on recruiting threads too often.
 
Perhaps his Mom was charmed when she was down there. BUT,at home the reality that LSU is FAR AWAY and RUTGERS is NEAR BY, just MAY swing the deal for Rashan to stay home.I said MAY if you noticed.
 
His eyes lit up when he discussed LSU in a recent video interview. Things could change in 6 months but I think LSU is leading now. He does not come to RU.
 
Don't worry about mom who most likely will be staying someplace near campus if he chooses Baton Rouge and with all do respect.... I understand the football history of Auburn, LSU etc but

as far as academics go with his top 10 listings... certainly much much better choices if academics is part of the criteria than LSU...Does he like Jambalaya that much ?...
 
Don't worry about mom who most likely will be staying someplace near campus if he chooses Baton Rouge and with all do respect.... I understand the football history of Auburn, LSU etc but

as far as academics go with his top 10 listings... certainly much much better choices if academics is part of the criteria than LSU...Does he like Jambalaya that much ?...

We all know that for the majority of recruits, especially top tier recruits, academics are really not a priority. They preach academics during their recruiting interviews because they know what they're supposed to say. The reality is anyone who realistically considers academics in their recruitment would never set foot near LSU, AUBURN, ALABAMA, GEORGIA, etc. only Florida and Vanderbilt would be appropriate SEC choices (unless I'm forgetting one other). Anyone growing up in Jersey or the east coast would know this.
 
LSU has one thing going for it - and it's not academics OR football.
 
One of the saddest things of all, (well, to me, anyhow), is that even though Gary is a Jersey guy born and bred, and even though the Rutgers staff has undoubtedly put major, MAJOR effort into the recruitment of him, if you look at 247sports where the percentage possibilities of a kid choosing this school or that school are given, RU isn't mentioned...at all. Not even a miniscule 1% chance of Gary becoming a Knight is thrown out there. (Which, unfortunately, is probably a completely accurate assessment of the situation, even though, of course, until a kid verbals to a school it's all just guessing...and then that school's staff has got sweat it to get him to actually sign on NLI day.)

The current breakdown for Gary on 247 is: Mich.:49%, Ala.: 32%, Auburn: 14%, Clemson: 3%, and tOSU: 3%

Now clearly, Gary's recruitment is a fluid situation, and with the seeming success of his LSU visit those percentages will probably change. -But to see that Rutgers appears to not even be an afterthought for RG in this whole process is a bit of a bummer, to say the least. (Not unexpected, given the seemingly pervasive stance of a lot of top Jersey prospects towards RU, but still kind of a downer)

But hey, it's a free country and he can go to whatever school he wants. -Just give me the very best prospects out there who want to rep RU, no matter what state they're from; those who can see what Rutgers is about and has to offer, and we'll do just fine, thank you very much.
 
LSU is the only SEC school I sort of root for in any capacity so I don't mind if he ends up there. Much rather LSU than OSU, UM, PSU or Bama. That said, the post about these southern schools not giving a rats ass about kids from NJ, and pretty much all Yankees for that matter, unless they excel at football for their team is spot on.
 
Last edited:
We all know that for the majority of recruits, especially top tier recruits, academics are really not a priority. They preach academics during their recruiting interviews because they know what they're supposed to say. The reality is anyone who realistically considers academics in their recruitment would never set foot near LSU, AUBURN, ALABAMA, GEORGIA, etc. only Florida and Vanderbilt would be appropriate SEC choices (unless I'm forgetting one other). Anyone growing up in Jersey or the east coast would know this.
That is something which I believe is way wrong in your statement...in general( I would bet on this) there are many many TOP TIER recruits such as Rashan Gary who take pride in the academic side and unaware of a lack of academic enforcement... I will concede that in many schools academics are not the top reason to attend if playing a sport but it is...even in the SEC there are many players who after leaving early for the draft return to finish up their degree requirements...The top programs always have a chance to secure a commitment from a player ranked high in the ratings with also good grades...Now those schools you mentioned above are considered to have some very good academic areas of education whether as an athlete or regular student you take advantage is an entirely different thing...Rashan is a good student but given the chance to leave early for the NFL...why not?
 
Rashan will end up in the NFL wherever he goes. So why not play ur college ball in front of family and friends.
 
We all know how LSU runs, they just reinstated a few guys that got arrested in June back on the team. It's an enabling culture, football runs everything. The kid has every right to go there but don't pretend it's about academics, integrity or anything other than football ...football runs the show there.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MikeR0102
RU was out a while ago and I stopped caring....

Agree with a few above,,,,if not RU then out of the B1G fine by me...

And an we stop with the academic crap already...say you want what you think is the best path to
NFL and stop the baloney....
 
When "it's about academics" what it really means is, "the school has a decent academic reputation, and I've been assured my diploma has already been printed up".
 
I know we're all guilty, but I'm literally suffocating under the weight of the homerism of that article, Jesus. I've let it go long ago, but this kid's recruitment just gives me the red ass something fierce. What a waste of time all those dozens of visits and all that time spent with the coaching staff. I know it had to be done, but damn. Like we never even existed.
I'm so sick of the "fake love" by the users of the world...Rashan...stay home and rep the state that weaned you..drop them from their list and they'll move on to the next blue star recruit and treat them even better!! Compare home to mom...would you let a seductress lure you from mom? LSU,Auburn,UM.... their all sexpots but not real. RU is fo REAL.
 
I'm so sick of the "fake love" by the users of the world...Rashan...stay home and rep the state that weaned you..drop them from their list and they'll move on to the next blue star recruit and treat them even better!! Compare home to mom...would you let a seductress lure you from mom? LSU,Auburn,UM.... their all sexpots but not real. RU is fo REAL.

Let it go Nicky...it's over...RU took it's best shot but he wants brighter lights...so be it
 
  • Like
Reactions: NickyNewark51
Why bother following this guy? He will $ign with 1 of the football factories and play 2 years of CFB and move on to the NFL.

RU would require some student activity but most of the top HS NFL prospects are not interested.
 
Don't know where some folks are getting their information but I can tell you this I echo and will confirm RUHusky's comment that Holliday never earned in varsity football at Rutgers and in fact probably never even played or might not have attended Rutgers. If someone is feeding Gary and his mom.some kind of bs then it's important to correct it.
 
Ha! LSU and the word academics in the same sentence, hilarious. It's maybe the worst flagship state research university in the country. If you think NJ financial support of Rutgers is bad you should check LSU's balance sheet.
 
Gary? Gary who? Sayonara rashan. Thanks for your patronizing visits to campus and wasting our time and effort. I can only hope that our recruiting staff knows when these NJ prima donas are just paying us lip service and not waste too many resources in recruiting them.
 
Ha! LSU and the word academics in the same sentence, hilarious. It's maybe the worst flagship state research university in the country. If you think NJ financial support of Rutgers is bad you should check LSU's balance sheet.
You can't get a very good education at LSU...is that a fact?
 
Zappaa, you can get a good education at the library if you apply yourself, but nobody who had a choice would choose the library over Harvard and you don't choose LSU over Michigan and tell me you did it for the academics either. And if you do, you might as well pee on my head and tell me it's rain, while you are at it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NickyNewark51
academics = don't have to show up for class and write papers. just concentrate on football.
 
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT